SEO Redirects: What a Redirect Is, the Types and SEO Impact

Redirects come up whenever a URL changes: a new domain, a site redesign, a merged page, a switch to HTTPS. Done well, visitors never notice and your rankings carry over. Done badly, you lose traffic to broken links, slow chains or the wrong URL in search results. This guide covers what a redirect is, the types you can use, how each one affects SEO, and how to set one up.

What is a redirect?#

A redirect is an instruction that sends anyone who requests one URL to a different URL. It usually happens on the server: instead of returning the page, the server answers with a 3xx status code and a Location header that holds the new address. The browser then requests that address on its own, so the visitor lands on the new page without clicking anything.

Search engines follow redirects the same way. Googlebot follows up to 10 redirect hops, and the type of redirect tells Google whether to index the old URL or the new one.

Types of redirects#

Redirects fall into two groups. Server-side redirects send an HTTP status code before any page loads. Client-side redirects load a page first and then send the browser on with HTML or JavaScript. Here is how each type works and how Google treats it:

For most sites the choice is between 301 and 302. Our 301 vs 302 redirect guide goes deeper on that decision, and the 301 redirect guide covers permanent redirects step by step.

Server-side or client-side?#

Use a server-side redirect whenever you can. Google recommends it, it works for every visitor and bot, and it happens before any page content loads. Client-side redirects depend on the browser: a JavaScript redirect only counts if Google renders the page, and Google's own documentation warns that rendering can fail.

How redirects affect SEO#

• Ranking signals follow a permanent redirect. A 301 or 308 tells Google to index the new URL and consolidate signals there. A 302 or 307 keeps the old URL as the one Google shows.
• No PageRank is lost in the hop. Google's Gary Illyes said in 2016 that 30x redirects no longer lose PageRank (reported by Search Engine Land). What matters is choosing the right type and the right destination.
• Relevance matters. A redirect to a closely matching page keeps the visitor and the page's purpose. Sending every old URL to the home page throws away both.
• Chains cost time. Each hop is another round trip for the browser and another step for the crawler. Point old URLs straight at the final page.
• Timing matters. Google's site move guide advises keeping redirects as long as possible, generally at least a year, so crawlers and returning visitors see them.

Are redirects bad for SEO?#

No. A redirect is the correct way to tell search engines a URL has changed. Without one, the old URL returns a 404, its links point at nothing, and the new page starts from scratch. Redirects only hurt when they're used badly: a 302 for a permanent move, long chains, loops, or redirects to unrelated pages.

When a redirect helps your SEO#

• Changing domains: redirect every old URL to its counterpart on the new domain, page by page.
• Moving or renaming pages: map each old URL one-to-one to its new home instead of sending everything to the home page.
• Merging pages: when two pages compete for the same search, combine them and 301 the weaker one into the stronger one.
• Deleting pages: redirect only when a genuinely equivalent page exists. Otherwise let the URL return a 404 or 410.
• Normalizing URLs: pick one version of each URL and 301 the rest, such as http and https, www and non-www, or with and without a trailing slash.

Which redirects people actually use#

Permanent redirects dominate. Of the redirects set up on RedirHub, about 96 in 100 are 301s, and around one account in seven has set up a 302 at least once (RedirHub platform data, October 2026). If you are unsure which to use, the move is almost always permanent.

SEO redirect best practices#

• Use a 301 for anything permanent and keep 302s for moves that will be undone.
• Redirect each old URL to its closest match, not to the home page.
• Go straight to the final URL: no chains, no loops.
• Serve HTTPS on the old domain too, so the redirect itself doesn't trigger a browser warning.
• Update internal links and your sitemap to the new URLs.
• Keep redirects for at least a year, longer if old links still bring visitors.
• Test every important redirect after launch.

How to set up a redirect#

On your own server, add one line per redirect. Swap 301 for 302 for a temporary move:

Note that PHP's Location header sends a 302 unless you set the code yourself, as the PHP manual explains, so pass 301 explicitly for a permanent move.

To confirm what a URL returns, run curl -I https://old-url.com and read the status line, or enter it in our redirect speed test to see every hop and how fast it answers.

Redirects without a web server#

If the old domain has no hosting, or you'd rather not maintain server rules, a redirect service can answer for it. With RedirHub you point the domain's root and www records at RedirHub, choose 301 or 302 under Redirect type, and pick Keep the path or Everything to one URL.

If you run your own server and only need a handful of rules, the server is free and enough. RedirHub is worth it when the old domain has no hosting, when you manage several domains, or when you want to see whether old URLs still get visitors.

For a page-by-page migration mapping, upload the list of old and new URLs with a bulk redirect import instead of writing rules by hand. Every connected domain gets free HTTPS certificates, so the redirect works on https:// as well as http://.